Monthly Archives: August 2013

I recently took a trip to Nashville. While there we ate at the Wild Cow. Its an all veg restaurant, and we were really looking forward to it. Overall, the food was just ok… But, I ordered the Buffalo Tofu bowl, and I have to say, that was definitely the stand out meal. It was delicious. It made me think that I should make something similar at home. And it turned out EVEN better than what I had there, in my opinion. What you have here is a bowl of brown rice, red beans, steamed kale, avocado, and buffalo tofu. I served it with a side of cornbread.

I make my seitan from Vegan eats world. This is my go-to recipe! I make it in 2-3 batches and freeze it and keep it on hand. Its really easy and delicious. Use your favorite seitan for this, and cut it into chunks.

Seitan:
Chop your seitan and coat with 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tspn oinon powder and 1 Tbsp cornstarch. Saute in a pan until starting to brown. In a bowl, melt 2 Tbs Earth balance. Mix in 1/2 cup of Hot sauce (we prefer franks!) and mix well until combined. Add this to the pan, and let sizzle for 30 seconds to a minute. Remove from heat.

In the meantime heat up your beans, and steam your kale and prepare your ranch dressing.

Layer a bowl with rice, beans and kale. Then top with avocado, seitan and drizzle some ranch dressing on top. enjoy!

Peaches are in season! And thanks to these pops, my little guy discovered he loves peaches. He helped me make these delcious popsicles Saturday morning and then kept asking for peaches the entire weekend.

Directions:
1. Place cashews in a container and cover with fresh, filtered water. Let soak for at least four hours, or overnight. Drain and rinse well. If you have a vitamix, you can probably skip this step. (i did! – just make sure you really blend them well during the blending process)
2. Peel peaches and roughly chop. Place in a high-speed blender and blend until completely smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of liquid sweetener if desired. Pour contents into a container with a spout and set aside.
3. Give your blender a quick rinse and add the cashews, along with the vanilla bean, 2 tablespoons of sweetener and water. I also added about 1-2 Tbsp. Almond milk to help get this going a little bit further. Blend on high until completely smooth.
4. Into each popsicle mold, pour a small amount of either the peach puree or cashew puree, then alternate between the two until you’ve reached capacity. Using a popsicle stick or skewer, stir the liquids together slightly to create a marble effect. Place a popsicle stick in each mold and place in the freezer until completely frozen. To remove, run the mold under warm water until the popsicle easily slides out. Enjoy!

Again, Sorry for the slience. The end of summer has caught up with us.
I have some projects planned – hoping to get out this weekend to get supplies and maybe even start crafting away. I showed some of the ideas to milo last night and he’s really excited to get moving as well.

So stay tuned – sorry for the absence, and thanks for keep following along!

So now that I’ve confessed my love for beets, here’s another combo that rocked my socks off.

I had harvested and roasted some beets this weekend, in anticipation to make these again, and just havent had a chance to do so. Those beets were just sitting in the fridge taunting me. Today for lunch I was determined to make a salad with them using things I had on hand. I came up with this delicious salad!

A few cups of baby spinach
1/4 red onion, sliced thin
1/4 avocado, cut in slices
about 2-3 beets (roasted) (smallish in size)
handful or so of pistachios

I’ve learned to accept beets in my life by masking the taste. I started with juicing, and now Im addicted to having them in my juices. Ive baked with them, made burgers with them….. Fine by me, as long as there is something else to mask the beet-y, dirt-ish flavor. Baby steps, but I have come around….Now I can’t get enough of their deliciousness!

I planted lots of beets in my garden this year, with the intention to juice them. Not sure how many of these are actually going to get into the juicer now that I’ve learned about roasting them. Sure, they take a bit of time to roast – but I promise you, its well worth it. No dirt taste here. I find myself craving these days afterwards. I just want more beets!

Next year in my garden, I plan to keep a big chunk of space just for growing beets. They are extremely easy to grow (from seed…extra bonus!)

Let me know your favorite way to eat beets!

2 pounds red beets, medium sized, scrubbed clean, green tops removed (Save these for juicing)
Olive oil
Salt
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil. Place the beets in the pan. Rub olive oil over the beets, and sprinkle with salt. Cover the beets with another sheet of aluminum foil. Roast for 1 to 2 hours, depending on the size of the beets and how old they are. After 1 hour, test every fifteen minutes by poking a beet with the tines of a fork. Once the fork tines go in easily, the beets are tender and cooked. Remove from the oven.

2 While the beets are cooling, prepare the balsamic glaze. In a small, shallow sauté pan, add the balsamic vinegar and sugar. Heat on high until the vinegar has reduced to a syrup consistency. Remove from heat.

3 After the beets have cooled for several minutes, but are still warm to the touch, peel off the outer skins and discard. Cut the beets into quarters or more, bite-sized pieces.

4 Place beets in a serving bowl. Pour balsamic glaze over the beets. Stir in grated orange zest, and add salt and pepper to taste.